


The Woods Are Lovely

by Xedra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coping with Death, Emotional, F/F, Teen Romance, Thestrals, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-16 14:29:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xedra/pseuds/Xedra
Summary: "Hannah Abbott didn't think much of it when Luna Lovegood sat across from her on the train to Hogwarts. She didn't think much of anything really. Ever since her mother had been murdered by Death Eaters she'd gone quite numb in her mind." 7th year fic. Non-canon compliant.





	The Woods Are Lovely

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for the emotional struggles of coping after losing a parent. 
> 
> Unbeta'd due to procrastination, as always. Any Americanisms, crimes of grammar, or general blahness are my own fault. Please be kind. :)
> 
> Written in response to a challenge by the Facebook group: Hermione's Nook for their 'Love for All Fest'  
The quote I'm basing this fic off of is from the end of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening": 
> 
> The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep.

Hannah Abbott didn't think much of it when Luna Lovegood sat across from her on the train to Hogwarts. She didn't think much of anything really. Ever since her mother had been murdered by Death Eaters she'd gone quite numb in her mind.

She was content to be so. She didn't want to think of anything. If she didn't have to think, she didn't have to feel. Feeling was something she just couldn't bear to do anymore.

She leaned her head against the window and felt the chill of the glass. The landscape rushed by under a rare sky that was so blue it almost hurt to look at it, so she closed her eyes. The train car rocked gently, and the compartment was silent but for the steady thumping of the wheels on the tracks.

Once again, Hannah felt tears come to her eyes. There was nothing specific that triggered them, other than the fact that her mother was gone, but she supposed that was enough of a reason. She took a deep shaky breath and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to calm down before her body started shaking, too.

“A pack of wild Nifflers was spotted in Hyde Park.” Luna’s soft, dreamy voice broke the silence and Hannah quickly blinked open her wet eyes to stare at her.

A pair of bright pink Spectrespecs sat on top of Luna’s head, pushing the waves of blonde hair from the witch’s face. She wore a necklace of red bottle caps and a pair of long, thin blue feathers attached to tiny silver hoops dangled from her ears down to her shoulders. She wore a fuzzy pale green jumper over a dark blue turtleneck, blue jeans, and white trainers with glittery purple laces. She read from a copy of the Quibbler that lie open across her lap.

“The area was secured by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which rounded up the creatures while a team of Obliviators were dispatched to deal with the curious Muggles that had witnessed the chaos.”

Luna paused and tilted her head, “Someone must have been eating strawberries. Nifflers can easily smell strawberries from a mile away. I'm sure I read somewhere they were native to Northumberland, I wonder how they made it all the way to London. Curious..."

Her voice trailed off as she turned the page, her large blue eyes swiftly scanning over the articles. Hannah was bewildered, but certainly not bothered as Luna began reading another article that detailed an investigation into whether singing legend Celestina Warbeck could have siren ancestry. Article after article was read aloud in Luna's soft voice, peppered here and there with her own whimsical commentary, and by the time she had reached the last page and started describing one sensational advertisement after another, Hannah found herself rather relaxed. Her arms had fallen to her sides and her hands were folded in her lap; her breathing steady, her eyes a bit swollen, but dry. 

Luna closed the magazine and finally looked up, her expression placid and open. "Would you like to hear about the time my grandmother saved the Prince of Denmark from being tickled to death by a flock of Cornish Pixies?"

Hannah blinked in disbelief and pressed her fingers to her mouth to hold back a sudden breath of laughter. She hadn't laughed in so long and the feeling was almost overwhelming. She nodded silently and was rewarded with Luna's sweet smile as the girl began the strangest, most convoluted, and most delightful tale she had heard in her life.

And so it went the entire journey to Hogwarts. Luna told her story after story of her adventurous grandmother, most of which Hannah suspected were highly embellished when they were first told to Luna, but she was so diverted by them, it hardly mattered. Luna pulled out several back copies of the Quibbler out of her small carry-on case and read through those, as well. She moved to sit next to Hannah and handed her the pair of Spectrespecs from atop her head. She pointed out all the places in the Quibbler where one could find secret messages, puzzles, and riddles when viewed through the special glasses. 

Hannah felt a sense of unraveling deep in her chest while Luna sat beside her. As easy as it was to listen to Luna, she found it just as easy to talk to her. She knew she was rambling, jumping from one thing to another and back again, but Luna didn't seem to have any trouble following along. Luna made her own leaps in conversation, as well, posing impossible questions that she then answered with dizzying circles of logic that Hannah found fascinating. At one point she simply shook her head in awe and whispered "Brilliant!" and the way Luna beamed at her made her heart thump hard in her chest and her face grow warm.

Dusk had fallen and was growing quickly darker when the train finally slowed down and eventually shuddered to a halt at Hogsmeade station. They gathered their things and as they left their compartment, Hannah swallowed hard as Luna took her hand and held it firmly in hers until they exited the train and met the carriages that would take them up to the school. It was there Hannah froze in place, which pulled Luna up short.

"What is that?" Hannah gasped. A skeletal horse with a dragon-ish face covered in leathery black skin, with large bat wings folded at its sides stood harnessed to the carriage.

Luna looked at her with a touch of sadness in her eyes and squeezed her hand. "Don't be afraid. Thestrals are really very gentle creatures. I'll tell you all about them on the way. I'll even tell you what it's like to fly on one."

Hannah gaped at Luna. "You're joking!"

"Not at all," Luna smiled serenely. 

Hannah looked back at the thestral and then up to the night sky. "Incredible."

Luna squeezed her hand again and they climbed up into the carriage. "I'll tell you everything. It's a long way to Hogwarts and it'll keep us awake."

Hannah sat very still on the plush seat of the carriage as a memory engulfed her mind. She could hear her mother's voice in her ear as clearly as if she were sitting there next to her. It pained her heart to hear it and she could not help whispering the words right long with that voice. "And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep."

She didn't realize her eyes were closed until they sprang open at the feel of a cool hand cupping her cheek. Luna looked at her for a long moment then pulled the necklace of bottle caps from around her neck and put it around Hannah's.

"It'll keep you from hearing the wrackspurts," she said.

Hannah jerked away, bottle caps clacking against her chest. "It wasn't a wrackspurt! It was-- it was--" but she couldn't say what it was, couldn't get the words past the lump in her throat. So she sniffled wetly and mumbled instead, "It's too cold for wrackspurts."

Luna reached up and gently thumbed away a tear that escaped down Hannah's cheek and nodded. "Yes, it is. Still, they make a nice sound and may attract a blubbering humdinger. That would be very lucky."

Hannah huffed a laugh and leaned back against the seat. She already felt lucky, with Luna sitting beside her. The carriage bumped gently along the gravel path and the sharp clop of hooves reminded her. "You were going to tell me about thestrals."

Luna's face brightened and she wound an arm through Hannah's, scooted close so they were hip to hip and began. Hannah leaned her head on Luna's shoulder and listened and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more than one chapter - I have more I want to write for these two, but I wanted to get this up in time for the fest.


End file.
